Intelligence: 4 January 2018Brownfield Land Registers highlight need of further sites

Brownfield Land Registers highlight need for identification of further sites for 70k+ homes for Greater Manchester

Aligning with the Government’s call for ‘brownfield first’ they required that each local authority in England prepare and publish a register of previously developed (brownfield) land suitable for housing by 31st December 2017.

Here we reveal the key findings of our review of the Brownfield Land Registers (BLR) published by the ten authorities that make up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) against the housing requirement set out within the draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF), published for consultation in October 2016.

In total, 1,246 sites have been identified in the Brownfield Land Registers across GMCA - with the capacity to deliver 100,103 new homes; less than half of the identified housing need for the GMCA (227,200 homes).

With 55,000 new homes allocated in the draft GMSF and BLR’s identifying 100,103, we can clearly see an opportunity for both the public and private sector to identify further sites to meet the requirement for an additional 70,000+ homes in the period to 2035.

Greg Dickson, Planning Director in our Manchester office said “It’s promising to see most authorities in the North West have completed their Brownfield Land Registers, helping us to take a collective leap forward in identifying how we will address our housing needs. Looking at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, while a large number of sites have been identified it is clearly not enough to meet the identified housing need for the City region. The 1,246 identified sites could deliver 100,103 homes. That equates to less than 50 per cent of the housing need which currently stands at 227,200 homes. This picture is echoed up and down the country. What the brownfield land registers do is help us to establish the extent of the shortfall so we can carefully consider through a plan-led system, how and where additional housing should be delivered.”

See our full fact sheet.

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